Car crashes into Northeast Philadelphia home

NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Emergency crews responded to the scene of where a car slammed into a house in Northeast Philadelphia Friday evening.

It happened around 7:15 p.m. along the 11100 block of Waldemire Drive.

Joe Donahue lives in the two story, four unit building. He heard and felt the impact of the car crashing through the first floor

"It felt like a bomb went off," Donahue said. "I ran out and I saw the smoke and I told my wife to get out of the house."

The 75-year-old woman who lives in one of the upstairs units was behind the wheel when it happened, according to Philadelphia police.

Donahue rushed in to help his neighbor.

He explains, "I knocked on the window but the door was locked and she was dazed from the airbag hitting her ... I went in the backseat and then crawled over the front and unlocked the door."

The driver was up and walking around after the crash, but was transported to Aria Torresdale Hospital by ambulance for treatment of neck pain. She is reportedly in stable condition.

The downstairs unit is heavily damaged, but luckily, the woman who lives in the unit wasn't home at the time of the crash.

We spoke with the owner's granddaughter, who said, "Thank God that my grandmom wasn't here because her couch literally sat in front of that window.

The damaged unit was undergoing renovations, and the owner's granddaughter says this incident will of course be a major setback.

Neighbors tell Action News that right before the crash the woman was in the street in her vehicle looking disoriented. As to what caused her to crash, that is still under investigation.